Two good seasons, and one to think about
The year turns on the monsoon: the rains usually arrive in late June or early July, and most of the year's rain falls between July and September.
What the rains do: they fill the lakes, turn the brown hills green and bring the whole city out to the ghats and embankments to look at the water.
Then the long winter: from October to March the days are warm and the skies clear. The heat builds through April and May until the clouds return.
- Altitude
- About 600 metres
- Winter
- October to March, bright and cool
- Hot months
- April to June
- Monsoon
- Late June or early July to September
- We recommend
- Winter and the monsoon
- Winter: the easiest and most reliable season, with the best weather for sightseeing, boats and long days outside.
- The monsoon: the most beautiful and least crowded season, though you trade some sunshine for drama.
- April to June: the months we ask guests to think about carefully, though even they have their pleasures if you plan around the heat.
- For festivals: aim for spring or autumn.
- For calm and lower prices: aim for the monsoon or the shoulder weeks of October and March.
- For a romantic palace hotel: come in the cool months, when you can sit out on a terrace late into the night.
- Read more: our guide to the best time to visit Rajasthan covers the whole state, and our Udaipur guide covers the city itself.
Winter, from October to March
Warm days, cool nights: from October to March, days are usually warm and sunny and nights cool.
Cold dawns: in December and January early mornings can be genuinely cold, especially on the water. Bring a shawl or light jacket for a sunrise boat or a rooftop evening.
- Days
- Usually warm and sunny
- Nights
- Cool, cold at dawn in Dec and Jan
- Lakes
- Usually full after the rains
- Busiest
- Christmas, New Year, Diwali
- Book
- Early
- By midday: pleasant enough for shirtsleeves.
- The light: the air is clear, the light golden and soft for much of the day, and the lakes usually full after the rains.
- Everything running: boats, hotels, rooftop restaurants and evening shows are all open and at their best.
- The busiest time of year: the weeks around Christmas and New Year are the most crowded, and Indian holidays like Diwali fill the city with families.
- Wedding season: it falls in these months, so hotels can be fully booked on some weekends.
The hot months, from April to June
The heat builds: by April the heat is rising, and in May and early June daytime temperatures are often close to 40 degrees.
Low water: after a weak monsoon the lakes can drop low, and the boat routes on Pichola may shrink.
- Daytime
- Often close to 40 degrees in May and early June
- Nights
- Stay warm
- Lakes
- Can drop low after a weak monsoon
- Upside
- Quiet city, much cheaper hotels
- The light: harsh at midday and hazy in the late afternoon.
- The good side: the city is quiet, hotels are much cheaper and some of the grand resorts are at their most peaceful.
- Plan like a local: see the City Palace at opening time, rest through the middle of the day by a pool, and go out again after five for the lake and the sunset.
- Skip exposed sites: avoid long day trips to places like Chittorgarh.
- More advice: our piece on summer in Rajasthan.
The monsoon, from July to September
Not rain all day: more often heavy showers roll over the hills, then clear to washed skies, cool breezes and dramatic clouds.
Green hills, rising lakes: the Aravallis turn deep green and waterfalls run in the hills around the city.
Brimming lakes: in a good year Fateh Sagar and Pichola fill to the brim, and the overflow from one lake to the next becomes a sight people drive out to see.
- Rain
- Heavy showers, then clear skies
- Hills
- A deep, startling green
- Festivals
- Teej, Hariyali Amavasya
- Hotels
- Quieter, kinder rates
- Plans
- Keep them flexible
- The trade-off: humidity can be high, and some days are grey.
- The Monsoon Palace makes sense: Sajjangarh was built partly as a place to watch the rain clouds gather over the hills.
- Festival season: Teej and the Hariyali Amavasya fair, when the city celebrates the green.
- Quieter and kinder: hotels are quieter and rates are kinder.
- Possible pauses: some boat services may stop in very heavy rain, and hill roads can be slow, so we keep plans flexible.
- Go deeper: our Monsoon in Mewar journey and our journal piece on monsoon in Udaipur.
Udaipur, month by month
January, cold dawns and kite-filled skies
Weather: one of the coolest months, with crisp mornings, sometimes close to single figures, and sunny, pleasant days.
Crowds: peak season, busy in the first week after New Year, then a little calmer.
- Makar Sankranti: usually 14 January, when kites fill the sky over the old city and rooftops become a happy battlefield.
- Weddings: in full swing.
- Pack: a warm layer for early boats and evenings outdoors. Read our Rajasthan in January guide.
February, music and the first warmth
Perhaps the finest month: the mornings soften, the afternoons are warm and the light is beautiful.
- World Music Festival: held in February in recent years, it brings musicians from around the world to stages by Fateh Sagar and in the city.
- Maha Shivratri: usually in February or March, a great day at the Eklingji temple north of the city.
- Holi: sometimes falls at the end of the month. See Rajasthan in February.
March, Holi and the Mewar Festival
Weather: warm and bright, with hot afternoons by the end of the month.
- Holi: often falls this month. The night before, bonfires are lit across the city for Holika Dahan, and the royal household keeps its own ceremony at the City Palace. The next morning is colour.
- Gangaur: honours the goddess Gauri, in March or April, with women carrying her images in procession to Gangaur Ghat.
- The Mewar Festival: takes place at the same time as Gangaur. See Rajasthan in March.
April, the shoulder of the season
Early April: can still be pleasant, especially mornings and evenings, and Gangaur sometimes falls in the first part of the month.
Second half: days are hot and a heat haze settles over the hills.
- Quieter and cheaper: the crowds have gone and hotel rates begin to fall, good for travellers happy to rest in the afternoons.
- In the bazaars: mango sellers appear, the neem trees flower along the lake roads and evenings on Fateh Sagar stay pleasant long after dark.
- Boat timing: keep your boat for the last hour of light, when a breeze finally comes off the water. See Rajasthan in April.
May, the heart of the heat
Hottest month: afternoons are often around 40 degrees.
- Lakes: may be low, especially after a poor monsoon.
- Maharana Pratap's birth anniversary: Udaipur honours its great hero with processions and gatherings around this time, following the Hindu calendar.
- Only if you must: we suggest May only for travellers who cannot come at any other time, and plan days around the early morning, a long rest and the evening. See Rajasthan in May.
June, waiting for the clouds
Early June: still very hot and often humid as moisture builds before the rains.
The break: usually late in the month or in early July the monsoon arrives, and the first heavy rain sends the temperature tumbling.
- Rath Yatra: some years it falls in late June, when Lord Jagannath is drawn through the streets in a chariot.
- Quietest month: for visitors. See Rajasthan in June.
- The first storm: local people watch the sky closely, and greet the first storm almost like a festival, with children running into the rain on the ghats.
July, the hills turn green
Monsoon established: heavy showers, cooler air and a green landscape that seems to appear overnight.
- Teej: the festival of the monsoon and of married women, often in July or August, with swings hung from trees and women in green leheriya.
- Quiet hotels: rates are low.
- Pack: an umbrella and shoes you don't mind getting wet. See Rajasthan in July.
August, fairs by the lakes
Often the wettest month: the lakes are rising fast.
- Hariyali Amavasya: a two-day fair on the new moon of Shravan (late July or August, depending on the year), run by the city at Fateh Sagar and Saheliyon ki Bari to celebrate the green.
- Women's day: on the fair's second day only women and girls may enter.
- Janmashtami: Krishna's birthday, often in August, celebrated with great devotion at Nathdwara, an hour north. See Janmashtami at Nathdwara and Rajasthan in August.
September, full lakes and fresh air
Fullest lakes: as the rains taper off the lakes are usually at their highest, the hills still green and the air fresh.
Some humidity: late showers are common.
- Arrive early: a lovely month to come before the season, with quiet hotels and soft light for photography.
- Navratri: sometimes begins at the end of the month. See Rajasthan in September.
- Spilling dams: in a generous year the lakes spill over their dams and families drive out to watch. Udaipur feels most like the city its Maharanas imagined, a ring of brimming lakes in green hills.
October, the season begins
Weather: warm, with the monsoon green still on the hills and the skies clearing.
Festivals: Navratri, nine nights honouring the goddess, and Dussehra often fall this month, and in some years Diwali too.
- The city comes alive: with garba dancing, lamps and markets.
- Filling up: hotels begin to fill towards the end of the month.
- One of our favourites: see Rajasthan in October.
November, Diwali and the wedding season
Weather: pleasant, with warm days and cool nights.
- Diwali: often in late October or November, when lamps line the ghats, the lake reflects them all and fireworks burst over Pichola.
- Weddings: the season begins in earnest, with grooms on white horses and bands playing outside hotel gates.
- Book early: for Diwali week. See Diwali in Rajasthan and Rajasthan in November.
December, crafts and celebrations
Weather: cool, clear days and chilly nights.
- Shilpgram fair: held in the last days of the month, it draws artisans and folk performers from across India.
- Busiest weeks: Christmas and New Year are the busiest and most expensive of the year, with hotels full and gala dinners everywhere.
- Book months ahead: see our Christmas and New Year journey and Rajasthan in December.
Festivals worth planning a trip around
- Holi
- Often March
- Gangaur
- March or April
- Teej
- Often July or August
- Hariyali Amavasya
- Late July or August
- Diwali
- Late October or November
- Shilpgram fair
- Last days of December
Gangaur and the Mewar Festival
What it is: the great spring festival of Rajasthan's women, honouring Gauri, a form of Parvati, and praying for good husbands and long marriages.
- In Udaipur: women in their finest saris carry painted images of the goddess through the old city to Gangaur Ghat, where they are bathed in the lake.
- The Mewar Festival: held at the same time, with music, dance and boats on Pichola. One of the loveliest sights of the Udaipur year.
Holi at the City Palace
The royal bonfire: the night before Holi, the former royal household keeps its own Holika Dahan ceremony with a great bonfire in the City Palace courtyard.
- The day of colour: the next day the city plays with colour, and street Holi can be rowdy.
- A gentler Holi: we arrange a family Holi in a private courtyard for guests who prefer to play gently.
- Read more: our Holi in Udaipur piece and our Holi in Rajasthan journey.
Diwali on the ghats
The old city glows: lamps line the ghats and rooftops, and the lake doubles every light.
- Late-night bazaars: families crowd the markets buying sweets and new clothes.
- Fireworks: go off over Pichola well past midnight.
- Where to watch: joyful, noisy and very beautiful, best seen from a rooftop or a boat.
The right season for the way you travel
- Honeymooners
- November to February, or the monsoon
- Families
- The cool months
- Photographers
- Late Sept, October or February
- Birders
- About November to February
- Repeat visitors
- The monsoon
Couples and honeymooners
The classic romance: November to February brings warm days, cool evenings on terraces, sunset boats in clear light and candlelit dinners outdoors.
- Don't dismiss the monsoon: a rainy evening in a lake-view suite, clouds rolling over the hills and the palace lit across the water, is as romantic as Udaipur gets, and the city is much quieter.
- Either season: our Udaipur romance journey works in both.
Families with children
Holiday peaks: the October half-term and the Christmas holidays are popular with European families, and Indian school holidays in May and June bring domestic families to the hills.
- Easier when cool: in the cool months children can be outdoors all day.
- In the hot months: choose a hotel with a large pool and shaded gardens, and plan outings for early morning and evening.
- Built for this rhythm: our family journeys.
Photographers and painters
Full lakes: come in late September or October for full lakes, green hills and clearing skies.
- Soft light: February has the softest winter light.
- Cloudscapes: in the monsoon the skies over the Aravallis are a gift.
- Avoid May: the haze flattens the views.
Birders and nature lovers
Winter migrants: waterbirds come to the lakes around Udaipur from about November to February, especially to the village lakes at Menar on the road to Chittorgarh.
- Monsoon nature: green forest, waterfalls and the wildlife sanctuaries of the hills, though some forest tracks close in the rains.
- More: see our birding page.
Repeat visitors
- Come back in the rains: if you have seen Udaipur in winter, try the monsoon.
- A different city: guests who do often tell us it felt quieter, softer and greener, closer to the Udaipur local families love.
Fitting Udaipur into a longer journey by season
Winter, the whole state open: Udaipur fits easily at the end of a journey from Jaipur and Jodhpur, or at the start of one heading north through Kumbhalgarh and Ranakpur.
Winter in the desert: Jaisalmer is at its best from November to February, so a winter route from Udaipur to the dunes is a natural choice.
- Winter tigers: reserves like Ranthambore are open through these months, so the cool season suits a long, varied journey.
- The classic route: our Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur journey is the classic winter itinerary.
- Monsoon, Mewar stars: the desert can be hot and humid, and national parks close their core zones for the rains.
- A monsoon route: we build these around the lakes and green hills of Mewar, with Kumbhalgarh, Ranakpur, Devigarh and perhaps Mount Abu, a hill station that is lovely in the rains.
- Hot months: we keep journeys short, slow and close to water, with Udaipur as the main stay.
Light, water and photography through the year
Winter afternoons: the low sun lights the City Palace from the west, turning it from cream to amber.
The classic views: this is the season for the view from Ambrai Ghat and from a boat on Pichola.
Still mornings: often windless, so the reflections are sharp.
- Winter
- Clear air, sharp reflections
- Winter dawns
- Light haze in Dec and Jan
- Monsoon
- Storm clouds, full lakes
- Hot months
- Harsh light, hazy air
- Soft dawns: in December and January a light haze at dawn softens the hills beautifully.
- Monsoon skies: storm clouds pile up over the Aravallis and sudden beams of light break through.
- Monsoon green: the hills turn a green unlike anything in the dry months, and the palaces float on more water.
- Hot months: the best hours shrink to the first after sunrise and the last before sunset.
- Be gentle with your camera: bathing ghats are private at dawn, and many people in the old city prefer not to be photographed without being asked.
- More: our photography tips page and our photography journey.
Crowds, prices and booking ahead
Peak weeks: Christmas and New Year are the busiest and most expensive, followed by Diwali and the long weekends of the Indian holiday calendar.
Wedding dates: popular dates also fill the grand hotels.
- Most expensive
- Christmas and New Year
- Also busy
- Diwali, long weekends, wedding dates
- Sweet spot
- Early October and late March
- Quietest
- The monsoon
- Cheapest
- May and June
- Book far ahead: for any of these weeks, we book many months in advance.
- The rest of winter: October to March is busy but manageable if you plan your days early.
- Shoulder weeks: early October and late March bring good weather, fewer people and better rates.
- Monsoon value: the quietest months, when the grand hotels often offer their best prices.
- May and June: the cheapest months, though the heat limits what you can do.
- Hotel by season: our guide to luxury hotels in Udaipur explains which hotels suit which season.
What to pack for each season
Winter: light layers, a warm shawl or jacket for dawn boats and evenings, and comfortable walking shoes for the old city.
Spring: cotton clothes, sun protection, and old clothes you don't mind ruining if you plan to play Holi.
- Summer: loose, light cotton or linen, a wide hat, sunglasses, sun cream and a refillable water bottle.
- Monsoon: a compact umbrella, quick-drying clothes, sandals that grip on wet stone, and insect repellent for the evenings.
- All year: clothes that cover shoulders and knees for temples, and shoes that slip off easily, since you will remove them often.
- For festivals: something bright. Mewaris dress beautifully for Gangaur and Diwali, and you will feel more at home if you do too.
- The full list: see our packing guide for Rajasthan.
